That can be said of the 1986 Chevrolet Monte Carlo that Nick Deal has been working to customize at Auto Dynamix in downtown Kalamazoo.

"We had banners," Diehl said of his 2.5-year-old shop at 702 W. Michigan Ave., "but we were not allowed to keep them up."

The shop, which is part of a business that has been going for more than 26 years in Battle Creek, has a large sign on Kalamazoo's main downtown drag. But Diehl said the location gets far more attention from passing motorists when it has a nice or unusual car sitting out front.

"It works better than a billboard," Diehl said with a laugh.

The white and blue Monte Carlo for which Diehl was crafting speaker boxes on Wednesday has been raised more than 14 inches (kids call that "donking" the car) to accommodate low-profile tires on 26-inch chrome, Dub floater wheels. "Floaters" are spinner-style wheels that appear to stay still when the car is rolling.

Diehl said he is working to customize the interior of the car, which has a 383 Stroker engine and an artistic rendering of what is supposed to be the skyline of Kalamazoo on its sides as well as a likeness of its owner's mother on the trunk hood.

How do you get into a car with floorboards that are way more than two feet off the ground?

"I guess you jump," Diehl said with a laugh.

Motorists got a double dose of cars that are more than basic last Wednesday when the Monte Carlo was joined by a 1976 Chevrolet Caprice owned by Aaron Yarbrough of Kalamazoo.

He said he traveled to Florida to purchase the car three months ago after finding it for sale on Craig's List. The car is Miami Ocean blue and listed in Kelley's Blue Book for about $16,000.

Yarbrough estimates the vehicle has already appreciated in value to about $22,000 based on changes he has already made on it, including the installation of new customer speakers in the passenger areas of the convertible as well as a massive set of woofers in its trunk.